About Szczecin

Szczecin, the capital of the West Pomeranian Province.
Szczecin is a city of over four hundred thousand inhabitants located in north-western Poland, the capital of the West Pomeranian Province. In terms of area, Szczecin is the third largest city in Poland (after Warsaw and Cracow) and covers 30 055 hectares. More than one half of the city area is taken by greenery and water, including the Odra and Dąbie Lake flooding areas.


The City is developing very dynamically and cohesively, inter alia owing to the vision of „Szczecin Floating Garden 2050” introduced in 2007. „The Floating garden” is the view of Szczecin when seen from a bird’s eye: a lot of greenery, water, and, at the same time, huge spaces suitable for cohesive development.

Tourists, employees on business trips and prospective students will immediately notice in the urban space the facilities related to the city’s development vision. Buses, trams, stops and other city furnishings painted white-blue-and-green, are closely related to the idea of the „floating garden”, its openness, cross-border, innovation and multiculture features.White colour is the space, green means urban greenery, and blue stands for water. Since the beginning of its history, Szczecin has been strongly connected with water. Already
in 992, „Dagome iudex” mentions the” Shinesghe River State „, as an element of the fiefdom of the Polish Duke, Mieszko I. The city was still closely related to Poland between the years 1121 and 1181. In the years 1185-1227, the Danes had the supreme authority, there. In 1243, Szczecin was granted civic rights, it began to develop dynamically. Owing to its joining the Hanseatic League, it became an important centre for trading in grain and herring. At that time, the princely family of Griffins (Greifen) reigned in Szczecin and throughout Pomerania. This situation lasted until 1637, when Bogusław XIV the Duke died without issue. The Thirty Years’ War weakens the city to a large extent. Between the years 1630 and 1720, Szczecin was under Swedish rule, and from 1720 to 1945 under Prussia/Germany. Between the years 1806 and 1813, Szczecin was occupied by French army. In 1945, Szczecin was taken over by the Red Army, and after the Potsdam Conference, the City was given to Poland, but it was only in 1955 that the soviet army left the port of Szczecin.

There are not many cities in Poland that can be proud of such a turbulent and interesting history. The pagan times, the influences of the Slavic and Germanic tribes, the reign of the Griffins, the supremacy of Poland, the Danish, Swedish, French and German times undoubtedly contributed to the significant development of Szczecin and its openness to multiculturalism. It is best to start the City sightseeing tour from the Odra Boulevards (Bulwary Nadodrzańskie). From this point, there spreads the beautiful view of the City and its most important monuments, including St. John the Evangelist’s Church, St. James’ Cathedral, Castle lower town, Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle and a complex of buildings in Wały Chrobrego. As a result of very heavy allied’s air raids, almost the entire Szczecin’s Old Town was razed to the ground, and after the war, its reconstruction was not started. Today, in many places, you can still see attempts to rebuild/reconstruct pre-war structures. Nevertheless, it is worth taking a walk along the track of Szczecin’s historic monuments within Bulwarów and Wyszyńskiego, Niepodległości Streets and Żołnierza Polskiego Square.

Contemporary history of the City is very strongly associated with the history of Poland. It was here in 1970, that the workers of the shipyards and other entities protested against the communist authorities; 16 people were killed, then. In August ‚80, after the wave of strikes in the Szczecin Shipyard and other workplaces, the „August Agreements” were signed. In 1988, a strike broke out, which led to the Round Table negotiations, and in 1990, the first democratic elections to the City Council took place. Attempting to learn more about the history of the City, the comers shall visit two museums. The first of them is the Museum of the City of Szczecin, located in the Old Town Hall in Podzamcze. The second is the „Przełomy” (Breakthrough) Dialogue Centre in the Solidarity Square, next to which there is the new pride of Szczecin, that is, the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic Hall in Szczecin opened in 2014.

Ryan Socash decided to explore Szczecin in one episode of #Undiscovered​:  Szczecin – Poland

Impressions from a walking tour of Szczecin / Poland in April 2018 by Carsten Travels:  Welcome in Szczecin

Wikipedia - Szczecin